Need You Now
by Caroline103
Summary: She wonders if she ever crosses his mind - it turns out, she does a lot. More than he ever intended. Ricky/Adrian, Ben/Adrian friendship.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** So I think this is a bit choppy, and I kind of rushed through this first chapter. But there are a lot more to come. I already had the chapter finished, but then I went back and added in the beginning (It's not really part of the story exactly because it goes along with what happened on the show already, except I changed it some.) And this is a Ricky/Adrian fanfic so Ramy shippers won't wanna read.

_August_

"You aren't going to talk to Ricky, are you?"

Adrian moved the phone to her other ear and held it between her shoulder as she chopped the vegetables. "Why would you think that?"

"Ricky told me that your dad asked him to."

"I'll talk to Ricky if he wants to talk to me. Why do you care?"

"Because that's my baby. Yours and mine." He paused. "And I don't care."

Adrian hung up. She knew Ben cared, because later that night Ricky came over and left when Ben called. "I kissed him. And he kissed me. And you know what, we felt nothing."

He didn't seem to believe her when she told him Ricky was at a place where he could be friends with a woman. And when he said, "I like you a lot, Adrian," before they hung up Adrian said she liked him a lot too - but she didn't know what that meant yet.

She touched her stomach and sighed, speaking out loud to herself. "Sorry, but I might still love Ricky."

* * *

Three weeks later Adrian opened the fridge for the fifth time that night, finally forcing herself to take out the small carton of strawberries that Ben had bought her earlier. As she shut the fridge, she heard two knocks on the front door and knew that was him now. He had called fifteen minutes ago and said he was coming over, sounding eager about something.

She went to get the door and saw him holding a small book in his skinny white hands. "Hi, Ben. What is—"

"I see you're eating healthy," he commented quickly, walking past her inside without an invitation. Adrian rolled her eyes and shut the door. Ben appeared apprehensive, he was still going through shock about the baby, but Adrian knew he was trying; he was trying more than ever.

"What is that?" she asked, referring to the book.

He held it up. "Oh, this is just a book...of baby names. I thought maybe we could look at it together. I know you aren't for sure yet on what we're going to do, but I just thought that we could—"

She sighed, aggravated yet content and flattered by his thoughtfulness. He could get on her last nerves, but at the same time she liked being around him. "Thanks, Ben. You're right, I don't know yet, but let's go look at it."

They both plopped down on her living room couch and Ben opened the book and flipped through the pages.

"Hm, I guess I'll start with girl names."

"Sweet."

Ben grinned, and Adrian gave him a small smirk. It was their new word, like an inside joke, between them after Ben had replied 'sweet' when Adrian said she was going to have the baby. They were surprisingly close these days, closer than usual. They would sometimes call each other at night and they would stay on the phone even if neither of them were saying anything.

"Emily?"

"No."

"Madison?"

She snorted at the idea of her baby being named after Amy's 'best friend.' "No."

"Zoe?"

Silence.

Ben looked up from behind the page to see Adrian giving him the death stare. He quickly said, "Okay, not that," and cleared his throat before flipping a few pages back.

"Abigail?"

She sighed. This was going to be a long day. "No."

"Amber?"

"No."

"Addison?"

She said no, but something about that name seemed to fit.

They went through at least thirty more names, but she was getting tired and they decided to swear off baby names for the night. Adrian now lay on the couch, her legs draped across the couch taking up two-thirds, and Ben sat at the end. He didn't mind. He looked over at her and spoke gently. "Adrian, you know two weeks ago when we talked about you and Ricky?"

She opened her eyes. "Yeah." She was tired and could have just fallen asleep if Ben hadn't spoke. She found out five weeks ago that she was pregnant, and these five weeks had been the longest five weeks of her life.

"Well, there's a reason why I was getting all possessive and jealous. I know you cared about Ricky, and I know Ricky cared about you. But I'm going to have a baby. And it's taken me a while to...let that sink in."

"It's okay," she assured him. "What-what's the reason?"

He sighed and leaned his head against the back of the couch. His head was pounding and his back hurt from tossing and turning all night. He barely got any sleep in weeks. "Well, the truth is that I'm afraid if you and Ricky get together again that-that he'll get attached to the baby. And the baby might...like him better than me."

"Ben, that couldn't happen." She promised. "This is _your_ baby. I don't think Ricky and I are ever going to be together again. But no matter what, this is always your baby, and you're the father."

He nodded. "I know that. I guess I was scared because that's what happened with Amy."

She smiled, "That wasn't your baby."

He was relieved when she said that and he didn't know why. He guessed because for the first time he felt like something could be _his_ and he wasn't going to lose it. Correction: two things could be _his_. He would be a great dad and a good friend to Adrian. If that was all he could do, he was going to do it right.

"You miss him, don't you?"

She wanted to say that of course she did. He didn't miss her, though, and missing him would only hurt her more. She sat up and she and Ben both faced each other. She opened her mouth to say no, but from the way she looked in his eyes and the way he was looking back she wanted to tell him the truth, everything. "Do you even have to ask?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thank you all for your encouraging reviews. Remember that this is Ricky/Adrian, but there's going to be a lot of Ben/Adrian friendship in this story as well. Just to clarify, I ship Ricky/Adrian all the way. The next chapter should be up soon. I hope you enjoy!

**Chapter 2**

**_September_****: **Sometimes when Adrian spoke to Ricky and they fought and argued just like they always had, she remembered how they used to be and she could swear that maybe she still saw that. Adrian didn't want to just be 'friends' with Ricky – that's what he said they could try to be. She was, however, in the process of moving on. She acted as if she was happy about the baby; and she was, but she was scared. She didn't tell anyone that - not even Ben, despite their progressing friendship.

It was still rather early in her pregnancy, but already each day marked another day closer to the baby being born, and no decisions had been made whether to keep the baby or to go for adoption. Adrian frequently reminded herself that it was still early and they had plenty of time to think about it. She was barely even showing now so someone could look at her from a distance, if she had thick clothes on, and think she wasn't even pregnant.

But it wasn't something she could forget - she was still having morning sickness quite often, and the memories of how this baby happened and all of the events of the past year (actually two years, but that was the part she was trying to block out) were always there to remind her that her life was in fact changing, and way too quickly.

**_December_: **"Can't they at least make the clothes look nice?"

Adrian and Grace walked up and down the isles of the store, searching for maternity clothes, but everything they came to Adrian either hated or couldn't imagine herself wearing.

"_Adrian!_ The clothes are cute. I would wear them."

Adrian blocked her out, grabbing clothes off the racks and holding them up to look at them before hanging the clothes back up.

Grace sighed and grabbed Adrian's hand, pulling her towards the door. "Come on, let's try another store."

**_February_: **She remembered exactly how long it'd been since she wasn't pregnant: seven months and thirteen days. She was the size of a balloon, her back hurt all the time, and they weren't kidding when they said pregnancy was hard. Even walking was a struggle for her.

She lay in the bathtub, her pregnant stomach almost reaching the top of the bath. It hurt her back to stand up in the shower, and she figured the baby kicked more because she was in pain. She'd been kicking all day (Ben got really excited when he found out it was a girl. Adrian hadn't cared either way). Ben offered her medicine for the pain, but she didn't want to risk anything by taking it. She would just suffer through this.

She got up, dried herself off and then pulled her robe on. Winter was cold as hell for her and she could hardly endure going outside anymore. She had to wear thick jackets and clothing yet still she retained her old wardrobe.

She walked into her bedroom; Ben was sitting on her bed, flipping through a baby magazine. He looked up as he saw her from the corner of his eye. "Hey, Adrian. You okay?"

"_Yes_," she said slowly, unsure of herself. She sighed and crawled into the bed beside him. "Did you just get here?"

"Mmhmm," he mumbled, "A few minutes ago." He set the magazine down on the end table beside him. "Do you need anything?"

"Nope, just you," she answered with a smile.

"Always."

They weren't a couple, but they were extremely comfortable with each other. He was always there for her and she appreciated that. The truth was they didn't know what they were; they had kissed several times just because they wanted to, but the truth was that neither one felt the same feeling they had once before. But they were happy and confident with each other, and for right now feeling accepted was enough.

Adrian put her hand on her stomach and hissed.

"What?"

"The baby."

"Can I-"

She grabbed his hand to cut him off and moved her robe over so he could touch her bare stomach. He would never get used to touching a girl so intimately like this. "That's amazing."

"I know."

They both were silent for a minute as they lay together in the dark room, his hand on her stomach and gently rubbing his thumb across her skin. "Ben?"

"Yes?" He waited.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" There was a sense of longing and sadness, he thought, in her brown eyes.

He had stayed with her many nights. But tonight her dad wasn't home and her mother was at work, and she didn't want to be alone. She had grown tired of being alone in her house, and thinking about that made her long for it because of who usually accompanied her during those times, yet she was glad both of her parents were home as often as they could.

Ben just nodded in acceptance; he liked the nights that they shared together, just lying quietly and wordlessly with one another or talking about life and the baby. Sometimes they laughed because they could be so serious. It _was_ a serious situation, after all, but even Adrian and Ben's parents told them they needed to lighten up.

Adrian enjoyed Ben's company as well – she had never had someone to talk to like she did now. She could talk to him about _anything_. However, she couldn't help but have something else on her mind. She couldn't help thinking about Ricky; it wasn't intentional. She wondered if he ever thought about her and how much she crossed his mind. If at all.

**_March_: **"Did you speak to Grace today?"

"No, why?" Adrian looked up at Ben who had just now walked through the door as she brought the sheets and bedspread to the bed from the dryer, spreading them over the bed and tucking it in.

He noticed the amount of energy and work it took for her to do just that. "Oh, you shouldn't be doing that. Let me-" He walked over to the bed and grabbed the bedspread, tossing it on top of the sheets.

"Thanks," she said with an eyebrow raised. "You were saying...?"

He cleared his throat and continued. "Well, Grace stopped me in the hallway this morning and asked if we wanted to go to church with her tomorrow night. She probably just wanted you to go, but she didn't see you and I suppose she just happened to find me and therefore she went ahead and invited the two of us. We don't have to go if you aren't feeling up to it. I've...actually never been to church on a Wednesday before. As a matter of a fact I've only been to church a few times. But you never know, it could be nice."

He realized he was rambling and he stopped, turning around to meet Adrian's eyes. "What do you think, Adrian?" he asked.

He continued to make the bed, waiting for an answer, but when one didn't come he turned back around and faced her. "Say something."

She moved her head slowly, her lips slightly parted, and looked down at her stomach, her hands grabbing it firmly and her voice coming out as a shaky whisper: "My water just broke."


End file.
